Category Archives: Ontario

Pelham Joins the Pack

Posted on by
Reply

The Welland Tribune reports (by Sarah Ferguson) that Pelham may be ready to join Wainfleet in opposing Wind Turbines (West Lincoln may yet do so next Council meeting).  While the City of Welland is anticipating a jobs boost from turbine blade manufacturing, the 200 jobs figure is probably exaggerated for political effect.

Rest assured, however, that those jobs are short term and temporary (unless the Province intends cranking out turbines to cover EVERY acre of agricultural land, in which case, they’ll last a little longer?).

“Jobs are great but I really believe it’s going to be short term and produce something people don’t want.”, Mayor April Jeffs of Wainfleet.

OWR 

Burnt By The Sun…

Posted on by

Burnt by Solar, that is, in a MicroFiT:
Dunnville homeowner does a slow burn over solar shortcomings.

Pay your money and take your chances, it seems, with Ontario’s Alternate Energy scheme (scam); Caveat Emptor:
Haldimand Hydro warns homeowners not to spend significant dollars on projects until they have received an “offer to connect.” The offer to connect is given after an assessment is completed and any technical issues can be addressed. The property owner would be paid the amount stipulated in the OPA microFIT contract. At present, prices range from $0.802 cents per kWh to $0.549 per kWh. (writes the Reporter, Al MacRury)… Haldimand Hydro has been able to accommodate more than 200 such solar projects within its district.

 

Superior Court Ontario Ruling

Posted on by

Superior Court of Ontario RULING: April 22/13:

…residents of Clearview Township cannot bring claims for a proposed industrial wind project at this time, the ruling is “without prejudice to the plaintiffs’ rights to commence an action for identical or similar relief when and if the Fairview Wind Project receives the necessary approvals to be constructed.” [Para. 6]

…lawyer Eric Gillespie, whose firm acts for the plaintiffs in the actions: “It now seems clear that as soon as a project is approved residents can start a claim. This appears to be a major step forward for people with concerns about industrial wind projects across Ontario.”
AND
After reviewing the evidence of appraiser Ben Lansink, the court states: “(i)n summary, the plaintiffs’ evidence shows that they have already suffered harm through a loss in property values and the corresponding interference with the use and enjoyment of their properties.” [Para. 9] “The plaintiffs have filed expert appraisal evidence indicating that their properties are likely presently devalued by between 22 to 50 per cent or more, based upon the Proposal as presented.” [Para. 31] “… (I)n this case the court accepts that the plaintiffs have suffered, and are currently suffering, losses culminating in diminished property values …” [Para. 34, emphasis added]

The Court also accepted expert testimony on adverse health effects: sleep disturbance, annoyance, headache, tinnitus, ear pressure, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, visual blurring, tachycardia, irritability, problems with concentration and memory, and/or panic episodes. (evidence given by Robt. McMurtry). Expert evidence was also given on the certainty of the project exceeded the 40dB noise limit.
But the Court concluded that the project could undergo major changes so that there is no way to know these adverse effects will occur.

GEAR UP, folks, the wind industry is going to hit back hard because the courts are ruling against them in significant ways: in Wainfleet, Council can pass by-laws to control IWT’s; and now, Property values are affected; once appproval is given a project, complainants can start court actions for adverse effects.

Folly Green Giant

Posted on by

A clever pun by Christina Blizzard of the Toronto Sun Newspaper; and, also, a very appropriate one! She says the giant is “smothering the voice of rural Ontario”:
That’s the only way to explain the complacency urban residents have for the desecration of rural Ontario.
Politicians from small towns across the province came to Queen’s Park Thursday demanding the Kathleen Wynne government return decision-making to the local councils.
The Green Energy Act stripped local politicians of any say in the siting of wind and solar farms in their communities.

So, if urbanites are complacent about the destruction of rural Ontario, what’s happened to all the Greenies who usually live in the cities? Why aren’t they out protesting this destruction?! Why? Because the saint of tainted causes, David Suzuki, hasn’t raised the rallying cry for them. In fact, his organization has done the opposite by joining the forces of the nutbar failed scientists who are proclaiming the deleterious effects of turbine power is “all in your head” (Quixotes has a great picture of the saint with outstretched arms delivering his sermon from the lectern – the man has abandoned science).

Voila the horrible cost of Green Energy and the huge rises in the cost of power to the consumer. And worse yet, Ontario Liberals and the NDPee have defeated MPP Lisa Thompson’s Bill 39 to restore affordable energy by curtailing wind power and restoring local democracy. This, of course and unfortunately, was a foreseeable result. The real hypocrites here are the NDPee (whose CAW turbine continues to blow an ill wind).

The Folly Green Giant is marching on, as Blizzard writes, aided and abbetted by the Minister Of Agriculture, Ms Wynne-lose:
Here’s the truth of what’s happening: It’s not Alberta and the price of oil that’s killing jobs here and hollowing out the economy. It’s our own home-grown government that has bungled the electricity file at every turn.
They spent $275 million to scrap a gas plant to save a couple of seats in Mississauga.
Rural Ontario, meanwhile, bears the brunt of their folly green giant.

High power rates are killing jobs and industry in Ontario, as reported by the writer:
A chemical company was about to expand rubber production in a neighbouring municipality, but decided it can’t justify the cost of electricity compared to the U.S. (Enniskillen)
In the legislature, PC Leader Tim Hudak talked about a Niagara food packaging company that compared electricity costs here with their plant in Texas. It’s 69% more here.

Ironically, the home of the Bruce Power Plant (Kincardine, Tiverton), is slated to receive 100 more Turbines in addition to the 118 that already bristle in the region, where the drop in coal power generation corresponds to the output of the refurbished Bruce Generating station and has absolutely nothing to do with wind and solar power generation – now, there’s Irony for you!!!

VERY Important: No Justice

Posted on by

And very unusual that one of the mainstream media outlets should publish an article criticizing the government’s wind energy policies and behaviour: OWR: Don’t look for Justice. Anne McNeilly’s report published in the Toronto Star, April 09/13, goes over the facts to describe how there is no Justice from Ontario where the debate on wind Turbines is concerned.

When there’s social injustice, you don’t expect large corporations, the provincial government and a union like the CAW to be climbing into bed together to ignore the problem. But slap a motherhood label on the issue, such as the so-called “Green Energy” Act, and all of a sudden it’s OK to ignore the very real hardships, both health and financial, happening to people in non-Liberal ridings.
What’s more surprising about the wind-turbine debacle, though, is the relatively low media profile that Ontario residents who are being negatively affected by the monster machines are receiving. News outlets and publications usually lap up stories of social injustice. The problems associated with lead paint, urea-formaldehyde foam insulation, asbestos and cigarettes are all famous for the media attention they received that led to change.
But it was difficult even to find news stories last week about the wind turbine protest at the energy conference in downtown Toronto. People from across the province pooled their resources to hire buses to come to the city to try to draw attention to their plight. If there was a broadcast or a print story, I didn’t hear or see it.
And despite public outrage and protests, the Canadian Auto Workers’ union last week started operating a monster wind turbine, built with government subsidies, in its Port Elgin convention centre parking lot that violates the 550-metre Ontario setback regulations. Residents, particularly children, are already experiencing the sleepless nights, anxiety and migraines being experienced by others around the province. Who cares? Certainly not CAW president Ken Lewenza, who has secured a seat on the province’s wind gravy train. When I recently suggested to a colleague who works on a documentary radio show in Toronto that the problems with turbines were worth a story, she responded: “I think they (wind turbines) are beautiful.” And that was that.  [Star report]

Speeches

Posted on by

The Speakers at the Toronto Protest April 03/13 had important messages.  Rather than reproducing them here, I will supply links to Ontario Wind Resistance where you can find the speeches.

Ginny Stewart, Receptor 62 (talk about being reduced to a number!)

Rosemary Wakegijig, Manitoulin Island First Nations (this is a first: the government ignoring First Nations!).

Keith Stelling (already published).

Green SCAM also a SHAM

Posted on by

[Editor: Green Legislation in Ontario overrides other legislation meant to protect the health and habitat of citizens, livestock and wildlife, as well as the natural environment by imposing restrictions on property use.  But Turbines are immune to any such restrictions.  While the Endangered Species Act prohibits you from building or developing land where such species might exist, it is waived where turbine development is meant to take place.  Green legislation is not only a scam but also, and more particularly, a SHAM.  This SHAM contravenes all protections laid down in the so-called Charter of Rights.  A pity no legal firm is pursuing, pro bono, a Charter Challenge to the Green Energy Act; it would be a long, laborious and very expensive undertaking, but it should be done. Green Metaphors are seriously dangerous in Ontario.]

Keith Stelling of Arran Lake in Bruce County,  at the Toronto protest April 3rd addressed these words to Premier Wynne:  (re-blogged from OWR Ontario Wind Resistance.)

Welcome everyone from all over Ontario
Thank you for
taking the trouble
having the courage
being persistent

WHY ARE WE HERE?

To tell Premier Wynne we are fed up with incompetent energy policy made by foreign multinational corporations.

WE ARE TIRED OF BEING IGNORED!
We can’t afford 15% hydro bill increases! Our economy can’t afford subsidies to big energy corporations.

WIND TURBINES ARE A SCAM!
WIND TURBINES DON’T CUT CO2 EMISSIONS: they increase them.
WIND ENERGY IS NOT CHEAP: we have to pay twice to cover the backup.

It’s often produced when we can’t use it. Then it has to be sold to the United States at below what it cost us to produce. Sometimes we even have to pay them to take it off our hands.

When there is lots of wind, emission-free water power and nuclear often have to be shut down—but we still pay for them!

There is no benign environmental footprint!

Wind turbines are destroying our wildlife habitats.

We’ve done our homework. The government has not.

WE OBJECT TO THE GREEN ENERGY ACT EXEMPTING DEVELOPERS FROM Ontario’s environmental legislation.
WE BELIEVE THAT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES issuing permits to destroy endangered species and their habitat is A SCANDAL AND ILLEGAL.

We resent being trivialized and called liars when government ministers and the industry tell us our health complaints are all in our heads—caused by jealousy!

We question the authority of the Chief Medical Officer of Health whose report claims there are no adverse health effects when Grey-Bruce MOH Hazel Lynn has found 24 peer reviewed studies that say there are!

WE KNOW THAT WHEN OUR NEIGHBOURS TELL US THEY CAN’T SLEEP BECAUSE OF THE WAVES OF INFRASOUND THAT VIBRATE THROUGH THEIR BODIES AND THEIR HEADS, they are not lying.

We know that children who live beside the turbines and can’t sleep at home miss out on their education because they fall asleep in school.

We know that long term sleep deprivation causes lowered immunity.

WE ARE TIRED OF GOVT INCOMPETENCE, DUPLICITY AND CRONYISM.
(How much will moving the gas plant actually cost us? 6 billion?)

OUR MESSAGE TO PERMIER WYNNE TODAY IS THIS:
There is no rational basis for adding more wind energy to the grid

it threatens grid stability
makes electricity unaffordable
increases CO2 emissions
and is destroying our communities,
our health,
our wildlife
and our economy.

WE DO NOT INTEND TO GIVE UP our fight for social justice, PREMIER WYNNE.

It is time for YOU to CHANGE COURSE.

Stop approving wind turbines until you have done your homework!

We are not willing communities.

SHUT DOWN THE WIND TURBINES!

A FiT-ing Protest

Posted on by

Many were in Toronto today to protest at the FiT conference, part of many protests rotating across the province.  Protesters called for Preemie Wynne to resign, immediately.tor1

Can’t stop me………………..tor2

Wainfleet crew……………….tor3

Police escort up University Ave…tor4

A special thanks owed to Toronto Police Servicetor5

Also blogged at OWR
and
Quixotes

Calling All Rural Ontario Fire Chiefs!

Posted on by

Calling all Fire Chiefs: Witness what can happen at a Turbine near you! Turbine Fire Near Goderich (re-blogged from OWR).

CTV News: Goderich Turbine Fire (re-blogged from OWR).

Are you prepared?  Can you prepare for this?  Who shinnies up the pole?

Email, Letter Attack in Support

Posted on by

Email, Letter Attack to Support Affordable Energy Act

The Township of Wainfleet at present has the misfortune of being part of the NDPee-held riding of Welland, currently represented by Cindy Forster. As you may have noticed, the NDPee has supported the Ontario Liberal Government in every attempt to foist Green Energy costs onto the Province’s taxpayers by voting to defeat all Private Member’s Bills calling for Moratoriums on Wind Turbine development or any other attempt to regulate the costs of greed energy.

Now, Conservative MPP, Lisa Thompson, has introduced the Affordable Energy Act to regulate the cost, siting and local control of Wind energy initiatives across the Province. The time has therefore arrived for citizens to support this effort. Email or post a letter to your MPP in support of this proposed Act. Do so, especially if you MPP is Liberal or NDPee. Find addresses here.

For Cindy Forster, email cforster-qp@ndp.on.ca or cforster-co@ndp.on.ca
OR
Room 184, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A5;
tel. 416-325-7106
fax 416-325-7067
OR
Unit 103
60 King Street, Canal View
Welland, Ontario L3B 6A4
tel. 905-732-6884
fax 905-732-9782
Don’t expect a reply; this MPP does not even acknowledge constituents through the courtesy of an auto-responder for email.